Apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds and method for the operation thereof.



F. x. GOVERS. v APPARAIUS FOR THE HEAT TREATMENT OF CHENHOAL COMPOUNDS AND METHOD FOR THE OPERAHON THEHhOF.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18. IHIB.

Patented Mar. 18, TOTO.

Alforn ey pnrrsn s'rn'rns rnrnnr onerou- FRANCIS X. GOVERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR THE HEAT TREATMENT OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS AND METHOD FOB THE OPERATION THEREOF.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented. Mar. 18, 1919.

Application filed July 18, 1918. Serial No. 245,444.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,-FaANo1s X. GOVERS, residing at 800 Riverside Drive, borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, a citizen of the United States, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Heat Treatment of Chemical Compounds and Methods for the Operation Thereof, of which the following is a specification.

In the heat treatment of liquids where the changes are principally due to reaction of heat alone, whether such heat treatment is accelerated by catalytic agents or not, various forms of apparatus have been proposed in the shape of retorts, stills and tubes. .Many of the reactions due to heat are affected to a great extent by the pressure used, increase of pressure causing reactions in many cases to occur much more quickly and readily at the same temperature and in some cases the use of pressure enabling reactions to occur at lower temperatures than would be the case without pressure. The use of high pressures renders stills and retorts of even moderate size rather dangerous to handle, due to the danger of explosion, and retorts and stills made to stand high pressures have to be made extremely strong and unduly heavy in order to withstand the strains to which they are subjected. Many attempts have been made to use small tubes in place of these retorts and stills. Such small tubes have relatively great strength-in comparison with the volume of material held therein and possess the great advantage of subjecting only small amounts of material to treatment at any oneparticular moment. Thus, in the case of the rupture or breaking of any particular tube or part of a tube, only small amounts of material are thereby released and the danger from an explosion due to such rupture is entirely avoided. Hitherto the disadvantage in the use of these tubes, particularly where high pressures are used, is in the fact that they have to be made so that they can be readily taken apart and cleaned. It is almost-impossible to make the joints pressure proof and keep the apparatus from leaking. If they are made in one continuous length, or coil, they will frequently be stoppedup', due to the accumulation of material upon the walls, this being very noticeable if the tubes are used for the so-called process of cracking hydrocarbons, since a deposit of carbon is formed,

and in the treatment of various other materials in dealing with which crystals are apt to be deposited on the pipe in condensing. By reason of such deposits, most tube furnaces have to be run intermittently and either cleaned out by means of steam blown through at intervals, or taken apart and cleaned by means of regular flue cleaners.

This stoppage of operation for cleaning is not only inconvenient, but it afi'ects to a markeddegree the working of the process. It generally requires considerable time for an apparatus to reach the right point of heat with the desired amount of pressure,

and since it works better at this point, each stoppage and restarting means a loss of time both in the operation of the apparatus .itself and in yield due to the fact that in case of stoppage a considerable portion of the material goes through the apparatus below the required temperature of conversion.

Again, in apparatus of the type described,

the question of surface contact has in many cases a great deal to do with the results obtained, and Where a particular surface, such as copper, nickel, or iron, is used, and where such surface is catalytically useful, the cleaner the surface is kept, the better will the reaction proceed.

' I have found that a heat converting apparatus in continuous tube form can be kept completely clear of deposits by the use of balls sent through the apparatus at regular intervals, the interval between each ball being determined by the nature of the material used and the extent of the reaction desired. These balls are introduced into the line of travel of a stream either of gas or liquid, such stream being actuated by a positive force such as, for instance, pump pressure. If the ball is dropped or otherwise placed into the path of travel of a liquid or gas, it will be forced along by the liquid or gas since the pressure on the pump side of the ball will always necessarily be greater than that on the outlet side of the ball. The excess pressure is dependent to a great extent on the force necessary to carry the ball by an obstructing surface or the retarding effect produced by an accumulation upon the walls of the tube. In the case of a large accumulation upon the walls and a consequent great excess of prescondensing and cooling zones as well, being removed from the liquid or gas by suitable means after passing from the cooling zone. In treating substances Where the action is supplemented by a catalytic effect, the balls may be advantageously made of a material capable of acting as a catalyzer.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation in section of a form of apparatus embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a detail of a device for periodically introducing scouring balls into the reaction apparatus, Fig. 3 is a detail of the device for entraining the balls after passing through the reaction apparatus.

In the drawings 1 is a tube furnace which may be of any well known construction which embodies the continuous tube coil 2 ofsubstantially uniform bore and free from obstructions. .The coil 2 is supplied with the substanceto be treated by a pump 3 which feeds the liquid from a source of supply (not shown) into. the continuous coil 2 at any desired rate of flow. After passing through the heat treatment coil'2 of the furnace 1, the substance under treatment may be run into a condensing coil 4: which is preferably made continuous with the heat treatment coil 2 and of the same bore throughout. After passing through the condensing and cooling coil 1, the material being treated may be run into a suitable separator 5.

In order to keep the apparatus clean by means of balls in the general way heretofore described, I provide a device for introducing the balls periodically and automatically into the path of flow of the liquid into the coil 2. This device consists essentially of a closed pressure tight hopper 7 provided with an opening having a pressure tight removable closure 8, through which the balls 9 may be introduced into the hopper- 7. It is advantageous to make the capacity of the hopper 7 sufficient to hold enough balls to last for several days run.

An automatic feeding device 10 is provided in the hopper 7-for introducing the balls periodically into the induction pipe 11 by which the balls are led into the path of How of the material being treated in the pipe 12 leading from the pump 3 to the coil The automatic feeding device 10 may consist, for example, of the two disks l9 and tions The perforations 21 and 22 are stagnace and cooling coil, means for introducing 20, each having perforations 21 and22 of a size sufficient to receive one ball, the disks being slightly more than the diameter of one ball apart, and separated by the partition 23, having the perforation 2 1 of similar size therein. The disks 19 and 20 are rotated by the shaft 25 which extends through a stuffing box 26 in the top of the hopper and is rotated regularly by any suitable means (not shown). The upper side of the disk 19 is shaped toward the perforation 22 so that the balls will tend to roll into the perfora-,

gered with relation to each other, but the perforations 21, 22' and 24: are all located at the same radial distance from the center ofthe shaft 25. Consequently, when the. shaft 1 is rotated so as to bring the perforations 22 and 24: in alinement, a ball will drop through the former and when the shaft is further rotated so as to bring the perforations 21 and 2 1 in alinement, the ball drops into the pipe 11.

' gate valve 18 is preferably provided in the pipe 11 to permit of refilling of the hopper without suspending operations.

To remove the balls from the path of flow of the liquid, anentraining device is provided. The entraining device is preferablyinserted in the path of flow of the substance to be treated after it has passed through the condensing coil 4 and before it reaches the separator 5. The entraining device consists of a curved eduction pipe 15 for guiding the balls from the path of flow in the pipe 16 leading from the coil 4 to the separator 5, into the closed pressure tight vessel 14. The pipe 15 is provided with a gate valve 17- whereby the vessel 14 may be cut. off from the eduction pipe 15 1 opening is ordinarily closed pressure tight 1 by the removable closure 19.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that many changes may be made in the exact details of construction and form of apparatus without departing from the 1 spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds, a continuous tube furnace, means for introducing balls into the 11 path of flow of the material under treatment prior to its entrance into the heating zone, means for Withdrawing the balls from the path of flow of the material under treatment after passage through the heating zone and 15 means for forcing the material under treat ment through the tube.

2. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds, a continuous tube furballs into the path of fiow of the material to be treated prior to its. entrance into the heating zone, means for withdrawing the balls from the path of flow of the material under treatment after assage through the cooling coil and means or forcing the material under treatment through the tube.

3. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds, a continuous tube furthrough the tube.

4. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds, a continuous tube furnace and cooling coil, automatic means for periodically introducing balls into the path of flow of the material to be treated prior to its entrance into the heating zone, means for withdrawing the balls from the path of flow of the material under treatment after. passage through the cooling coil and means for forcing the material under treatment through the tube.

5. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds, a continuous tube of substantially uninterrupted and uniform bore, part of which is heated, means for introducing balls into said tube on one side of said heated portion, a cooled portion of said tube on the other side of said heated portion, means for withdrawing said balls from said tube after passage through the heated portion and the cooled portion, and means .for forcing the material under treatment through the tube.

6. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds, a continuous tube of substantially uninterrupted and uniform bore, part of which is heated, means for introducing the balls into the tube on one side of said heated portion, means for withdrawing the. balls from the tube after passage through the heated portion and means for forcing the material under treatment through the tube.

7. The method-of operating a tube app-a ratus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds which includes the step of keeping the apparatus free from deposits during its operation by the introduction of balls into the path of the flowing material under treatment before its passage into the heating zone and withdrawing the balls from the apparatus after passage through the heating zone.

8. The method of'operating a tube apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds which includes the step of keepe ing the apparatus free from deposits during its operation by the introduction of balls into the path of the flowing material under treatment before its passage into the heating zone and Withdrawing the balls from the apparatus after passage through the heat,- ing zone and cooling zone.

. 9. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds in the presence of catalytic material, a continuous tube of substantially uninterrupted and uniform bore, part of which is heated, balls of catalytic material of diameter slightly smaller than the bore, means for introducingsaid balls into the'tube on one side of said heated portion, means for withdrawing said balls from the tube after passage through the heated portion and means for forcing the material under treatment through the tube.

10. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds in the presence of catalytic material, a continuous tube of sub stantially uninterrupted and uniform bore, part of which is heated, balls of catalytic materlal of diameter slightly smaller than I the bore, means for introducing said balls into said tube on one side of said heated portion, a cooled portion of said tube on the other side of said heated portion, means for withdrawing said balls from said tube after passage through the heated portion and the cooled portion, and means for forcing-the material under treatment through the tube.

11. In apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds in the presence of catalytic material, a continuous tube furnace, balls of catalytic material, means for introducing said balls into the path of flow of the material under treatment prior to its entrance into the heating zone, means for withdrawing the balls from the path of flow of the material under treatment after passage through the heating zone and means for forcing the material under treatment throu h the tube. v

12. n apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds in the presence of catalytic material, a continuous tube furnace and cooling coil, balls of catalytic material, means for introducing said balls into the path of flow of the material to be treated prior to its entrance into the heating zone, means for Withdrawing the balls from the path of flow of the material under treatment after passage through the cooling coil and means for forcing thematerial under treatment through the tube.

13. The method of operating atube apparatus for the heat treatment of chemical compounds in the presence of catalytic material, which includes the step of keeping the apparatus free from deposits during its operation and providing catalytic material by the introduction of balls of catalytic material into the path of the flowing material under. treatment before its passage into the heating zone and Withdrawing the balls eration and providing catalytic material by from the apparatus after passage through the introduction of balls of catalytic mate- 10 the heating zone; rial into the path of the flowing material 14. The method of operating a tube appaunder treatment before its passage into the 5 ratus for the heat treatment of chemical heating zone and withdrawing the balls 1 compounds in the presence of catalytic matefrom the apparatus after passage through rial, which includes the step of keeping the the heatingv zone and coolin zone. apparatus free from deposits during its op- FRANCIS GOVERS. 

